Chobham heavy lorry ban upheld by High Court after county council challenge

The HGV ban was upheld by the High Court (Image: NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images)

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Heavy lorries will not be able to pass through Chobham after the High Court upheld a ruling banning them from the village.

A dispute over heavy duty vehicles erupted after Surrey County Council (SCC) identified Windsor Road, the B383 from Sunningdale, as the best route for heavy lorry movements to and from a new housing development.

The development site, part of the former Defence Evaluation & Research Agency site at Longcross, which sits just inside Surrey but very close to the border with Windsor and Maidenhead, was given planning permission in 2014 and is being developed by Crest Nicholson.

Following hundreds of noise complaints from Windsor Road residents and petition of more than 1,000 signatures, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) imposed a ban on lorries over 7.5 tonnes along a 200-metre stretch of the road triggering a tense stand-off between the royal borough and SCC.

More than 73% of residents who responded to a public consultation exercise voted in favour of the heavy lorry ban. However, SCC fiercely objected, saying lorries would be forced along less suitable routes, causing environmental harm and risk of injury.

The former DERA site near Longcross (Image: TMS)

SCC said HGVs were likely to be displaced along the winding B386, through the centre of Windlesham, and would pass close to a school.

Last month SCC took the dispute to London's High Court but on Wednesday a senior judge handed victory to RBWM.

Judge Robin Purchas QC said RBWM had acted rationally and there was nothing unlawful about the traffic order.

The simmering row between the councils had been delicately described as a "difference of opinion", the court heard.

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Ruling on the case, Judge Purchas said the RBWM had properly consulted SCC before making the order the council's views were "fully expressed and taken into account" before the crucial decision was made.

RBWM had also "expressly considered" technical evidence concerning the impact of the order.

It had "ample evidence" on which to base the order and there was nothing "irrational or otherwise flawed" about its decision, concluded the judge.

Surrey County Council now also faces having to pay the heavy legal costs of the case.